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GLDD Stock to Gain From New Dredging Awards Worth $342 Million

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Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (GLDD - Free Report) has announced receiving $342.3 million worth of several dredging awards, thus further enhancing its backlog and revenue visibility in the upcoming years.

Besides this, the company also has approximately $350 million in low bids and options pending award. This includes three works for which GLDD was a low bidder in the past two months, thereby bringing its potential total pipeline of work to more than $1.5 billion.

More on Great Lakes’ New Awards

The company highlighted six of its awarded projects including Sabine-Neches Waterway Channel Improvement, Contract 6 Project, Canaveral Harbor Sand Bypass Project 5, Brigantine Inlet to Great Egg Harbor Inlet, Absecon Island Beach Renourishment Project, Captiva Island Beach Renourishment Project, Cape Cod Canal and Sandwich Beaches Renourishment Project, and Brazos Island Harbor, Texas Entrance and Jetty Channels Dredging Project.

The Sabine-Neches project in Texas is the largest, in terms of value, among the mentioned ones, with a total award value of $219.1 million. The project is expected to start in mid-2025, with estimated completion in late 2026. Moreover, the Canaveral award in Florida is worth $40.6 million, with work expected to begin and end in 2025. The Absecon Island Beach project in New Jersey is worth $38.2 million, with work expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2024 and be completed in the first quarter of 2025.

The aforementioned projects are followed by the Captiva Island project in Florida, the Cape Cod Canal project in Massachusetts and the Brazos Island Harbor maintenance project in Texas, with a valuation of $26.7 million, $8.9 million and $8.8 million, respectively.

GLDD’s Consistent Project Wins Bode Well

Great Lakes is the largest provider of dredging services in the United States. The company mainly banks on strong domestic dredging operations, high equipment utilization, solid project execution and savings from restructuring.

Great Lakes ended the second quarter of 2024 with $807.9 million in dredging backlog compared with $1.04 billion at 2023-end. Of the reported backlog, capital projects comprised 71.2%. The company aims to bid on projects and build a solid backlog. With the reduction in Fed interest rates, these prospects seem to be further enhanced, positioning GLDD for long-term growth in the market.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

GLDD’s shares have gained 35% in the past three months, outperforming the Zacks Building Products - Heavy Construction industry’s 16.2% growth. It is benefiting from securing multiple dredging contracts, which contribute to a solid project pipeline and backlog.

Going forward, Great Lakes expects the dredging bid market to remain robust for the remainder of 2024 and through 2026. We believe the company’s strong bidding ability and project execution, along with improved market conditions, fleet adjustment and cost-reduction initiatives, will boost its performance in 2024 and beyond.

GLDD’s Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

Great Lakes currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Here are some other top-ranked stocks from the Construction sector.

Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (STRL - Free Report) currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1. STRL delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 17.4%, on average. The stock has surged 102% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for STRL’s 2024 sales and earnings per share (EPS) indicates growth of 9.7% and 26.6%, respectively, from the prior-year levels.

Fluor Corporation (FLR - Free Report) presently sports a Zacks Rank of 1. FLR delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 29.7%, on average. The stock has gained 36.7% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FLR’s 2024 sales and EPS indicates an increase of 13.8% and 5.5%, respectively, from a year ago.

LSI Industries Inc. (LYTS - Free Report) currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 54.1%, on average. Shares of LYTS have rallied 3.1% in the past year.

The consensus estimate for LYTS’ fiscal 2025 sales and EPS implies an increase of 14.5% and 6%, respectively, from the prior-year levels.


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